Do you have a tendency to overthink things?
I know I do.
In fact, it’s rare for my brain to shut down completely; there’s always something going up there, a muddle of different thoughts buzzing around in my head.
I love my thinking time. I love to spend time alone, contemplating life and the direction I would like mine to take. I enjoy exploring my dreams and ideas, even analysing myself and my thoughts.
The above photograph was taken on a recent trip to Iceland with my husband. Whilst he was off on an adventure trip, I had a couple of hours to wander around Reykjavik alone with my camera. I ended up spending some time sitting by myself on the shore beside this sculpture, with my headphones in, feeling alive in the moment, in another place, thinking about my hopes for the future.
But sometimes all the thinking gets a bit too much. Sometimes I spiral down the rabbit hole of self-doubt, where I wonder if I’m where I should be in life. It’s a pointless question, but one I ask myself often.
The thing about thinking so much, for me at least, is it often gets in the way of doing. I have so many thoughts and ideas and projects I want to work on that my mind jumps from one to another, never really giving me the time to settle on one thing. I end up paralysed with the indecision of not knowing what to do next. I worry about failure.
There’s so much noise out there, sometimes it would be lovely to just stare at the ocean and feel the thoughts drift away. To just be.
But my brain is never quiet. Maybe that’s why I write, to force some of the ideas out into the light. For a writer, thinking too much can be paralysing, especially if it prevents you from taking that next step to creating something.
Thinking too much can fill you with fear. And I don’t want to be afraid anymore.
Dave says
Hey, just wanted to pop a comment in here to say that I stumbled across this post when going through a bout of minor depression. I was really struggling to figure out why I was thinking the way I was, this simple post essentially explained everything to me and helped me understand exactly what my thoughts were doing to make me feel the way I did.
Today I feel great, motivated and 100% better than I did yesterday. Keep writing, you’ve inspired/motivated someone 🙂
Amy Lord says
Wow Dave, thanks so much, you’ve certainly made my day! I’m glad you got something positive from the post and hope you keep on feeling great 🙂